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ABOVE PHOTO: Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman is interviewed by 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace as they walk to Freeman’s Madidi Restaurant on Delta Avenue in Clarksdale, Miss., Wednesday, April 20, 2005.
(AP Photo/Clarksdale Press Register, Troy Catchings)
washington, dc – The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) mourns the loss of CBS newsman Mike Wallace. He died last night at the age of 93.
Wallace’s career spanned 60 years. he was on the staff of “60 Minutes” when it began in 1968. He retired as a regular correspondent in 2006 but continued contributing occasional reports.
“NABJ is deeply saddened by the loss of Mike Wallace. For years we were captivated by his interviews, because he stopped at nothing to get to the truth. he was a role model because of his competitive spirit, dogged determination, earnest questioning, and genuine commitment to our craft,” said NABJ president Gregory Lee, Jr. “he was a newsman’s, newsman but more than that he was a family man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, loved ones and friends.”
Wallace interviewed every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy – with the exception of george w. bush – and dozens of other world leaders like Yasser Arafat, Ayatollah Khomeini and Manuel Noriega.
Other interview subjects included everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to television star Johnny Carson, from Malcolm X to singer Janis Joplin, from pianist Vladimir Horowitz to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
“Mike Wallace helped create investigative journalism on television that we all know today,” said NABJ Vice President of broadcast Bob Butler. “Who can forget those accused of wrongdoing or bad behavior who were exposed to a national television audience every Sunday night on 60 Minutes?”
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